So the Bruins have gotten off to a hot start, Thomas going undefeated and 7-0-0 and Rask getting screwed and going 0-3-0, including tonight's (last night's?) effort, coming in down 0-3 and still getting the L. It's nuts. They've also played in the capital city of 3 different countries so far.
The Bruins are nice enough to provide the last two years side-by-side with the current year on their website. 10 games in the last 2 years? Bruins beat Ottawa to improve to 5-4-1 in 09-10, and Thomas had just put on a clinic shutting down Edmonton and Vancouver in back-to-back shutouts in '08. The Bruins were 5-2-3 then. Now?
7-3-0
2-2-0 home
5-1-0 away
So that's not bad. Not bad at all. Next stop is gonna be goal differential:
+14
The best in the league. Leading the team in individual +/- is none other than, you guessed it:
Milan Lucic.
This is in part to Thomas's 3 shutouts and altogether unreal hot streak in the beginning of the season, and also due in part to the offense, which is a breath of fresh air this season. The Lucic-Krejci-Horton line are all individually rocking a PPG for the moment, with Horton (6) and Lucic (5) leading the way in goals. The players without points this season are Dan Paille (scratched after the first game, quite possibly heading to Providence) and McQuaid (1 point in 32 career regular season and playoff NHL games).
#73: 4-4-8
One nice thing to see is the resurgence of the good Michael Ryder. Despite being one of only 3 players with a -1 (Paille and Recchi are the others), he's been scoring at a pretty good clip, 4th on the Bruins behind the Mushroom Kingdom.
Basically what I'm saying is this team is a hell of a lot of fun to watch right now.
L10 Highlight:
Tyler Seguin's first NHL goal
Tyler Seguin has been playing pretty well for a kid who is as old as your average college freshman. He's scored goals in 3 countries on two continents. Best part? Jordan Caron has been about as good, especially joining Patrice Bergeron on the PK (and otherwise) for what I like to call "The French Connection."
Most common forward lines, by percent ice time (per Dobber Hockey)
Lucic-Krejci-Horton (The Mushroom Kingdom)
Marchand-Campbell-Thornton
Bergeron-Caron-Wheeler
Ryder-Seguin-Recchi
Non-Bruins NHL spotlight:
Steve Stamkos is literally on fire right now. 10-10-20, +9. Ridiculous.
Stammer rules, get used to it.
By the time you read this I'll be sleeping through my alarm and hurrying off to Boston Sports Blogapalooza! I'm pretty psyched, last year was a lot of fun and hopefully this year will be too.
This whole "playing the Caps" thing is starting to get old already. Just kidding, so far it's been great. Here are some pics from the previous 2 WSH/BOS games. Click on them for bigger versions. Enjoy.
Stats!
Remember when the Caps PK hadn't let in any goals?
Okay, folks. You know how it do. The Bruins are on a hot streak, having won the last 3 games against Phoenix, New Jersey, and Washington after dropping the international home opener to Phoenix in Prague. You can see pictures of the Prague games in the next post, but I'm not here to dwell on the past.
I'm here to point out how goddamn badass Thomas's white-as-snow pads look. No, really, check this out:
(click for huge, also looks like some doan-face action)
Thomas has been posting ridiculous goalie numbers right now, including against some elite competition. Like Ilya Kovalchuk:
Gotta love Jack.
So basically Thomas owns right now and all the haters are climbing over themselves to get back on the Thomas bandwagon. Which is dumb, since rooting for a specific goalie instead of the team is just silly. Tuukka starts tonight, and if he lets up more than a goal I fully expect some assholes to boo him for no good reason. For more on that, go check out Day's of Y'Orr's excellent post about it.
No really. Go read it. I'll wait.
Did you read it yet? No? Here's the link again: CLICK HERE.
Okay, now we can continue.
The Caps are obviously looking to prove they're not a bad team and can beat the Bruins like they did all last year. The Bruins are out to prove they're not completely lost and alone and hopeless on the powerplay. The Caps haven't let up a PPG yet. DRAMA! INTRIGUE!
Oh, and I know I didn't write about the Bergeron and Chara extensions, but basically my thought is that I'm happy to have those 2 guys back, and the Chara one might be a little long...maybe. He works out like a maniac, so it might work fine. Then again maybe not. Who knows? And now you know why I'm not an NHL GM.
Now, here are some stats:
Horrible Jerk who should really pick it up, jeez:
Tyler Seguin is a -1 and has only 2 points in his first 4 NHL games.
Game 54 7 PM, February 2nd, 2010 NESN, 98.5 FM vs Washington Capitals (37-12-6)
Welp.
The Capitals are on a 10-game winning streak. The Bruins are on a 7-game losing streak. Something's gotta give. Right? RIGHT?
Thomas in net. Stuart's out until after the Olympics. Mike Green is suspended. Meetup behind section 308 at intermission for group therapy session.
And now, local media personality Joe Haggerty with an uplifting message:One of the four guys who have played every game for the Bruins turned 42 yesterday. It looks as bleak as a post-apocalyptic wasteland. So lock and load.
Aside from Patrice Bergeron being the man, we now know that Derrick Morris doesn't like Ovechkin...probably because of this:
You can't see it, but the puck goes BETWEEN Morris's legs. He threw some good hits tonight, most against the Gr8 one. (excuse me, I need to vomit about that.)
Patrice Bergeron is also looking absolutely great. No really, fantastic. Oh look, here he is scoring the Bruins only goal, basically short-handed but .00001 seconds too late to be counted as such (lame):
(apologies to Evan for NHL video clip and sentence fragments :))
Oh game recap? Sure: Ovechkin, Ovechkin, Ovechkin, Ovechkin, Bergeron.
4-1.
Fin.
The Bruins looked like they were trying a bunch of passes that just barely missed. A lot. It's frustrating to watch.
GOOD MORNING BOSTON (and possible readers elsewhere). It's a beautiful morning here, perfect weather to cram into an arena or bar or living room to watch THE BEGINNING OF HOCKEY SEASON!!! There are few words to describe how excited I am at this point, and if you're reading this you probably don't need to hear them again and again and again.
The offseason has been a wild one, what with the court cases and offseason moves and kessel fucking off to Toronto, but that's all over for now. Tonight, we see the beginning of what could be another magical season or a disappointment. I'm not one for predictions, you can find those elsewhere. I suggest Two Line Pass's hockey haiku predictions (east | west) for a fun brain teaser.
Ovechkin hurt, January 2009
But enough about silly predictions. Let's get down to brass tacks. The Caps are a good team, and almost (ALMOST!) brought Chris Bourque to play in Boston's home opener. He was excited to make the team and interviewed about it, only to be put on waivers. Pittsburgh picked him up. Sobotka was assigned to providence, and the opening night Bruins roster is set, likely involving one David Krejci at center.
Game starts at 7pm, and will show on Versus tonight. If you have DirectTV, you might not be able to see the game so feel free to call and complain before heading over to a buddy's house to watch. People should be celebrating the start of the season anyhow, this is as good a reason as any to get together!
Holy crap I just rambled a bunch and I have no idea how coherent it is but I don't care because TONIGHT IS WHEN IT STARTS!
The home team has won the game in each game so far. Here's hoping for that continuing.
Half of the Bruins Bloggers will be at this game somewhere or another.
No word as of writing about Savard or Lucic. Please let them be ok.
Ovechkin, Chara, and Ference are all donating money to right to play depending on their playing time. Awesome. Off-ice, Ference might just be my favorite Bruin. He doesn't hunt bears, though.
Well, the home team continues to win in games between Washington and Boston. This was a pretty sweet game. Let's take a walk down memory lane...
One thing that happened this game was that the Bruins decided to take penalties to start each period. For example, 7 seconds into the first, and the Caps get a powerplay. Their powerplay is 6th in the league. It never converted (but may as well have in the first, see below)
Bruins almost kill it off, and Ovechkin gets stopped, but then he gives it to Mike Green, who rifles it in from the high slot at the last second of the powerplay. 0-1. It's only two minutes in. The Caps don't let up a whole bunch of goals these days, letting them get one early could be very bad.
Luckily, about 7 minutes later, Shawn Thornton corrals a puck that's about to go out of the zone. He skates it up and right as he's about to skate with it behind the goal, roofs it on the backhand. Theodore can't handle NHL Superstar Shawn Thornton.
1-1. Sick goal for a guy that deserves it. Loved the goal celebration, too. Arms down, just pumped. Huge goal.
Then in the last 30 seconds of play, washington gets it in and Fleishcschsmann creates traffic in front of the net by losing an edge. Nylander jams it in. 1-2. And that's the end of the first.
You're thinking, "Hey, this could be a high-scoring game." Foolish.
The second period had a first ten minutes, but it was all hooking calls and no scoring. Theodore was showing flashes of greatness, and the Bruins were held to nothing. Then when 14 minutes had passed, you wanted to make sure you were watching.
The Bruins are on the powerplay. They try the Chara-is-a-ninja move, but it doesn't work. The caps get the puck instead of Chara, and it looks like they'll dump it. But wait! What's that? A bird? A plane? NO! It's Patrice Bergeron, "the Lord of the Rink" according to the free posters they were handing out before the game. He makes a sick dive and not only knocks the puck off the caps stick, but also has time to get up before crashing into the boards and then makes a pretty sweet pass through the slot to Savard. Savard waits for Karl Alzner to spin himself around, and then uses him to screen Theodore and roof it. GOAL.
2-2. Tied up. While you were checking the caps website for who was #27 and got embarassed, Karl Alzner pops up and beseeches you to buy tickets to "Kids day" so you can get a tin lunchbox. Solid.
Then about 15 seconds later, Chara hits Ovechkin, and Ovechkin loses his balance and smashes into the boards with his head and shoulder. You're thinking a blend of "oh crap I hope the face of the league is ok," "maybe it would be ok if we didn't have to play against him for the rest of the game," and "I hope this doesn't last long, I've really gotta hit the men's room." 15 seconds after lying there, face down on the ice, (boston hasn't seen enough of that yet) he rolls over and rubs his eyes. A minute or two later, he gets up and skates off. Chara gets a penalty for hooking. It is the 4th hooking call of the period, and hooking was the only penalty called all period.
Here's the only video out so far:
At about 0:26, tell me that's a real hooking call. Caps fans will call it a dirty hit, Bruins fans will call it no penalty. It's part of why being a fan is fun. (Thanks to Puck Daddy for the video tip)
I blame the ref with the french name. It's not like officiating hockey is the hardest ref job or anything. Oh wait.
The rest of the second is relatively uneventful. Pucks are shot, but they do not go in.
The third period is all about shut-down hockey. Ovechkin came back. "Russian Machine never break." It is punctuated by Byron Bitz throwing down with Donald Brashear. The very same Brashear that Georges Laraque said was the best fighter in the league. Hockeyfights.com doesn't have enough votes to declare a winner yet, they also don't have a youtube video up yet. Which is the first time I've ever seen that happen. Fried Chicken's video will have to do:
There are a lot of great saves surrounding the fight for the rest of the period, and some penalties, but whatever. When I go to games, I don't leave my seat except during intermissions. I also have a few beverages. So at 5 minutes left in a tie game, I'm dying. But enough about that.
We're going to OVERTIME! Hopefully that won't be OvieTime!
48 Seconds into Overtime, Nicklas Backstrom gets called for hooking. Which is about the 800th hooking call in the game. The refs need to get more creative. Anyhow, the Bruins put out my favorite 4-on-3 line out there: Savard-Krejci up front, Chara-Wideman on D. They set up in the zone, Savard gets it to Krejci, and well...you know...
Oh wait, wrong clip. They figure, "lets try again." This time, Krejci tries to pass across the crease, but that crafty Caps Defenceman Shaone Morisonn is in the way. He breaks up the pass....right behind Theodore. GOAL!
3-2. I'm ready to credit Krejci with trying to make the Caps d look silly and bouncing it off him on purpose. I beg to differ, sir, that was not a "bad" bounce.
Game.
WIN!
Huge win at home with Bergeron, Ference, Lucic back. But, the Bruins gave up a point. This is the 4th game in a row where they've given up at least 1 point.
Record: 35-8-5 (W 2) Home: 18-3-2 (W 1) L10: 6-3-1 January: 7-3-1 GO BRUINS!
BERGERON! BERGERON! BERGERON! BERGERON! Please don't get another concussion, dude. I worry.
Lucic is back. In his absense, he dropped to 5th in the league in hits with 154. He's behind Brooks Orpik, Dustin Brown, Cal Clutterbuck, and Matt Cooke. Ovechkin just barely trails him.
Andrew Ference will be back as well. We last saw him killing a penalty on a broken leg during a Montreal@Boston game. Hunwick was skating on the wing.
Ryder's been out with "flu-like symptoms" and I'm held to the floor by a "gravity-like force." If he's out, this is what lines will look like.
In those lines, Matt Hunwick is playing wing. Interesting.
The Caps called up Karl Alzner, and there is much rejoicing among Caps fans.
Both teams play very well, basically waiting for the other team to make a mistake.
Japer's Rink: "the Caps' last win away from the Verizon Center against a team currently in either conference's top eight was in Buffalo way back on December 30."
HubHockey: As close to a preview as we're going to get.
NESN First Shift: "Thomas became the fifth goalie in All-Star game history to win the game in back to back years, joining Frank Brimsek (1947 and '48), Jacques Plante (1958 and 1959), Johnny Bower (1961 and 1962) and Martin Brodeur (1997-1998)."
In the first period, the two teams moved it back and forth across the ice, and it was pretty exciting. Nothing too crazy happened on either end. A couple of penalties got killed.
The second period begins, and the Caps take a penalty. Savard, Hnidy, Chara, Kobasew, Savard, net. They work it around really well and then Savard gets another high short-side goal, from the wide, wide angle.
1-0. You're excited.
As it turns out, so is everyone else, because Mike Green finds a way, on a PP going the other way, to be completely invisible to the whole Bruins D. They let a pass through and it's Green vs. Thomas. Green wins. 1-1.
And then near the end of the second, we find out it's true - Ovechkin is a dirty hitter. Nice knee-to-knee. Luckily, Wideman came back into the game.
Despite excellent play from both teams, Alexander bongo-drummer Semin rifles one over Thomas's shoulder after St. Pierre can't bury it. 1-2.
That would prove to be good enough.
Loss.
Random Thoughts:
The Bruins haven't been able to win in Washington at all this year. In between losses @ Washington, the Bruins had a 7-game away winning streak.
The Bruins are also very good at home, it will be interesting to see what the two upcoming Caps@Bruins games look like.
vs. WAS: 0-2-0 Record: 33-8-4 (L1) Away: 16-5-3 (L1) L10: 7-3-0 January: 5-3-0 GO BRUINS!
TV: NESN Radio: WBZ 1030AM @ Washington Capitals (28-14-3) Notes:
The Caps are on a bit of a tear here. Ovechkin will run wild all over your defense if you let him.
Alexander Semin is also pretty good for them, and is an excellent bongo-player.
Kinda busy this afternoon, not a big-time preview. But this game should be huge. Ovechkin is a ridiculously good hockey player, and the Bruins have been really good this year. These are the top 2 teams in the east right now.
Lucic, Bergeron, and Ference are skating in team practice, but not cleared for battle drills.
The 2 Man Advantage will be at the game, so if you're going, say hi to them for me. And tell them about how the instigators really don't have a desk. Watch their hands some time.
After the way the Bruins played against the Islanders, this game may be bleak. I hope they have a good time getting fired up.
Chara will likely play against Ovechkin the most. Could be a huge game for him.
Previous Games: Record Against Washington: 0-1-0
Game 28: Bruins 2 @ WAS 3 L: Washington won at home. First regulation loss in a while for the Bruins. Last loss before the 10 game winning streak.
Other Previews: <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>
1st and 4th teams in the league and top 2 in the east square off.
Game 21: Bruins 2 Habs 2 SO WIN. Roy's number is finally retired by the Habs, the Bruins come in and win right in front of all of those fans. Blake Wheeler gets the only goal in the shootout, and gets a No Habs No letter from Sens Army Blog.
Game 22: Bruins 2 BUF 3 Loss. In the 18 Buffalo-Boston games, the home team has won. This one was played in Buffalo. Derek Roy shot one in off a Bruins stick. Despite trying to get it going in the third, they just couldn't put it in.
Game 23: Bruins 7 NYI 2 WIN. Black Friday in the new Third Jerseys brought a blowout against the league-basement Islanders. The 7th goal in this game was super-pretty.
Game 24: Bruins 4 DET 1 WIN. Detroit comes to Boston to try to pick up a win. Luckily, the Bruins aren't scared of the reigning stanley cup champs. After 12 minutes without a shot, Blake Wheeler buries it behind Osgood on the first shot of the game. They go on to win.
Game 25: Bruins 3 TBL 1 WIN. Lecavelier-to-Martin St. Louis starts the scoring about a minute in, but Thomas starts taking the game seriously and the Bruins come back to win, 3-1 with an empty netter.
Game 26: Bruins 4 FLA 0 WIN. Manny Fernandez pitches a shutout. The Florida Coach after the game: "We could have been out there for three days and still not scored."
Game 27: Bruins 5 TBL 3 WIN. This was the game that the Bruins got up 3-0 in the first 10 minutes, then stopped playing altogether. P.J. Axelsson's Empty netter made this score look less scary than it was to watch.
Game 28: Bruins 1 WAS 3 Loss. Proving that the Bruins can't win them all, Washington continues a home winning streak against the Bruins. Ovechkin got the empty-netter. It was a pretty hard-fought game. I can't wait until Washington comes to Boston.
Game 29: Bruins 7 ATL 3 WIN. 14 Players have points in this mega team effort. 4 fights make this quite the game as the first of the home-and-home series.
Game 30: Bruins 4 ATL 2 WIN. The Bruins pick up where they left off in Atlanta, and 6'7" Thrashers defenseman Valabik has to answer to Chara after picking on Kessel. Valabik is star-struck and throws no punches. How do you fight your idol? Chara doesn't even knock him down. Sort of a sad fight, in a way. That said, back off of Kessel or one of our bruisers will Crush you. By Bruisers, I mean Lucic, Chara, Thornton, or Savard. Savard? Yeah, check his PIMs for the season.
Stats/On-Pace Projections:
Best goal of the last 10 games:
Maybe this one's just fresh in my mind, but Michael Ryder's second goal against atlanta on Saturday was pretty dominant:
It was his 10th of the season. L10 Record: 8-2-0 Overall record: 21-5-4 GO BRUINS!
Well, crap. Over the last bunch of games, the bruins have been going win 5, lose 1, win 4, lose 1, win 5, lose 1. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but sometimes a goalie just absolutely steals a game. Also, they have Ovechkin and Semin and lead their division for a reason. Maybe it's because Beudreaueau is the longest-tenured coach in the Southeast. It's not the most surprising thing in the world, is what I'm saying.
Coach Claude: "They're going to say it was their goaltender made some big saves and I'm going to say we had some missed opportunities."
I mean it. Brent Johnson was the #1 reason that the caps won that game. I mean, come on. What a stick save on Wheeler. Of course the official clip is from the exact wrong game, but Wheeler's trying to get under Johnson's stick. Johnson gives him a nice tour of his house. That's the story of the whole game. The Caps are insane at home. January 17th is the other game @Caps. Look forward to it.
Anyhow, here's the recap:
First period, we get a power play. Then we take a penalty. After 20 seconds of 4-on-4, they're on the PP. Ovechkin gets it at the point, of course he shoots. Backstrom deflects it in. 0-1.
Second Period, the Caps make a mockery of our D. Nylander gets it in the zone, they move it around about a million times. Poti passes it off Manny's pads, Giroux jams it home. 0-2. You're thinking it would be real nice for the Bruins to score one here.
This is where the Johnson on Wheeler save happens:
Wow, what a save.
Luckily, they're thinking the same thing. 40 seconds to go in the second. Caps get it out of the offensive zone, Chara scoops it up and sends it around the end boards. Ryder gets out to not be offsides, Kessel goes in and takes the puck away from a redshirt. Lucic sees it, they both skate toward the net. Brent Johnson can't save EVERY shot.
1-2. Ok, sweet. Now just get another one.
Third period: Or don't get another one, I guess. Manny is pulled, and Ovechkin gets the puck at center ice. He skates around Lashoff, and does the Ovie-Time thing. 1-3.
Game. Loss.
Let's check in with some post-game:
Record: 19-5-4 L10: 8-2-0 Streak: L1 December: 3-1-0 GO BRUINS!
(Luis M. Alvarez, AP Photo) Dec 10, 2008 7:00 PM ET On TV: NESN On Radio: WBZ @ Washington Capitals (15-10-3)
Notes:
The Bruins have won their last 5 games. They are 5-0-0 against the Southeast this year.
The Capitals have been unreal in their own building, going 10-1-1. The loss was to the Panthers and the shootout loss was to the Devils. They're clicking at 27.1% on the powerplay at home. Yikes.
The Bruins have worked their way up to having the 10th best PK overall this year. They started at 30th with an abysmal 70% kill ratio. The PP stays steady at 4th.
The Washington Capitals owner, Ted Leonsis, has a blog. I'd send him the 5 questions, but my guess is that he's pretty busy running his media empire and I really should have sent that days ago.
A lot of good guys on washington are hurt, namely their whole defense, last I checked.
After Stephane Yelle collided with Mark Shewchyk, Sobotka got called up to fill in. I like his energy, this isn't the worst thing that could happen.
The Caps are top-secret about their morning skate. Johnson in net.
Manny in net. Sturm and Ward are out. Yelle or Sobotka is a game-time decision.
Kessel has scored a point in the last 12 and a goal in the last 6. Unreal. Krejci also has a point in the last 9 games.
The Spoked B looks at how well the Bruins are starting vs. the best 5 Bruins seasons since expansion. The 29-30 Bruins scoff at playing against 6 teams.
The 2 Man Advantage's Scotty (I think) gives us a stream-of-consciousness report on Hockey.
Bruins fans think Brashear/Thornton is likely, Caps fans want Lucic/Brashear. Except for one on Japer's Rink, who wants Ovechkin to run Lucic. Whatever. We've seen how the "enforcer wants to fight Lucic" story works out.
This picture should have a goal horn to go with it.
Other Previews:
Kynch's Korner: "After having a scare thrown into them by Tampa, no way they come out with anything less than max effort."
Here Comes the Bruins!: "the Bruins PK unit would be shaken up slightly against the conference's third-best PP unit... which could have a significant effect on the outcome of this important game."
Stanley Cup of Chowder: "I have a confession to make: I have a soft spot for the Washington Capitals." I just like OvieTime, myself.
Japer's Rink: "...the boys in red have more than a puncher's chance given how well they play at home, and the simple fact that they have Alex Ovechkin and Boston doesn't. Edge: Washington."
The Bear Cave: Looking back to Washington's last game on Sunday, the Capitals had a whopping total of nine players out of the lineup due to injury. That doesn't include Brian Pothier, who has been out indefinitely since the beginning of the season.
NESN First Shift: "Expect Johnson to get the call against the Bruins."
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